For years Asaram Bapu delivered sermons on morality and spirituality at his Indore ashram. On Saturday, the same ashram witnessed a day-long sordid drama at the end of which a police team from Jodhpur finally got its hands on the godman and quizzed him about accusation that he raped a minor girl recently.
Throughout the day there was no trace of Asaram, who had vanished on the way to Indore from Bhopal on Friday. While the police looked for him, his son added to the mystery by claiming that Asaram suffered from a painful nerve disorder called trigeminal neuralgia. But the medical report nailed Asaram’s lie and he was declared fit for questioning. Thereafter, the Jodhpur Police team entered the Indore ashram and started his interrogation. The police confronted the 72-year-old godman a day after he ignored the Friday deadline to appear before Jodhpur Police following summons.
The medical report came soon after Asaram’s son Narain Sai claimed his father was unwell. “Bapuji has a blood pressure problem and is suffering from trigeminal neuralgia. Talk about his going missing and running away from police is rubbish,” Sai told reporters at the self-styled godman’s ashram on Khandwa Road.
He said Asaram was shocked at the demise of his (Sai's) father-in-law Dev Krishnani, who handled the affairs of all his ashrams in Madhya Pradesh, and then sudden illness had prevented him from appearing before the Jodhpur Police. “Bapuji had cooperated with police in the past and will continue to do so in future,” Sai said. He also apologised for recent skirmishes between Asaram's supporters and the media and asked the godman's followers to exercise restraint and not create problems for journalists.
Earlier, Asaram's aggressive supporters mercilessly beat up journalists at Jodhpur. Two of the mediapersons were seriously injured. Police said 13 people including a woman have been arrested in the attack which was condemned by the Broadcast Editors' Association (BEA). Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said, “I condemn the attack. It was an act of uncivilised people. The law will take its own course and action will be taken against all those involved in the crime,” Gehlot told reporters in Jaipur.
In a related development, the father and other family members of the 16-year-old girl, who accused Asaram of sexually assaulting her, started a fast-unto-death at the Collectorate in Shahjahanpur district demanding the self-styled godman's immediate arrest. “I will not eat anything till the time Asaram is arrested,” the victim's father told reporters. He had earlier announced he would stage a fast-unto-death if the godman was not arrested by August 30.
“If we are not satisfied with the defence offered by Asaram we will arrest him,” Jodhpur DCP Ajay lamba told reporters after it initially appeared that the police was clueless about Asaram's whereabouts. The speculation about Asaram's whereabouts ended after Asaram's son claimed he was not evading the police and that he is recuperating at his ashram in Indore from illness.
lamba said that the Jodhpur Police got a fax from Indore ashram on Friday in which it was stated that Asaram had a “neurological problem” after he underwent a medical examination by doctors of Bhopal Medical College. However, the latest communication from Indore Police was that doctors of Indore Medical College have stated that Asaram is medically fit for travel and interrogation, he said.
“In view of a large number of Asaram supporters gathering at the ashram, adequate police force has been deployed around it. Senior officials are keeping an eye over the situation,” Bhanwarkuan Police Station in-charge Ashok Tiwari told reporters. Asaram Bapu, 72, has been booked under various sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and the Indian Penal Code. A look-out circular has also been issued against himn to prevent any attempt by him to leave the country.